FAINT FOOTSTEPS, World War II
Dad on guard duty at Northney with "a rifle with no ammunition")
From the collection of Doug Harrison. Feb. 1942
Dark and Lonely Nights
Early in 1942 Doug Harrison of Norwich, and about 100 other members of RCNVR and Combined Operations (C.O.) arrived safely by ship at Gourock, Scotland. Before they had time to unbutton longcoats they were sent by bus to a Canadian manning depot and barracks (HMCS Niobe) a few miles away in Greenock. And shortly after sitting down they were sent somewhere else.
Doug says, “We spent little time at Niobe but entrained for Havant in southern England, to H.M.S. Northney I (on Hayling Island), a barracks with a large building for eating and cabins with four bedrooms. This was January, 1942 and there was no heat at all in the brick cabins. The toilets all froze and split. But we made out. (At least) our eating quarters were heated.”
In memoirs, veterans recall that at Niobe and Northney they were finally told what some of their specific responsibilities were while under the command of the C.O. organization.
My father recalls the day they were filled in about ‘special duties’: “It was revealed to us that we were to serve on landing craft. The strange new world of landing craft, tides, currents, cold wind, rain and darkness” lay ahead for these raw recruits.
Lloyd Evans of Markham says, “We discovered we had volunteered to operate Landing Craft for future raids and landings.”
If recruits asked what ‘future raids and landings’ were planned they would not learn a thing. Only on the morning of a raid - or just hours before an invasion - would they learn their purpose and destination. Their duties, however, for the Dieppe Raid (seven months later), and invasions of North Africa (Nov. 1942), Sicily and Italy (both in 1943) would be well practiced.
While performing some initial duties at Northney camps new recruits were given a time and location.
If recruits asked what ‘future raids and landings’ were planned they would not learn a thing. Only on the morning of a raid - or just hours before an invasion - would they learn their purpose and destination. Their duties, however, for the Dieppe Raid (seven months later), and invasions of North Africa (Nov. 1942), Sicily and Italy (both in 1943) would be well practiced.
While performing some initial duties at Northney camps new recruits were given a time and location.
Both Doug and Lloyd Evans tell about dark and lonely nights ‘on guard.’
Lloyd says: “Some nights I stood guard duty at the end of a long pier as lookout for German raiding parties. In the lonely darkness this inexperienced 18-year-old discovered the power of the imagination! It seemed the end of the watch would never come.... I was gaining a sense of the terrible nature of modern warfare as I realized in my imaginings how easily they could be turned into brutal and bloody reality.” (Pg. 9, My Navy Chronicles)
My father, three years older than Lloyd, had a less worrisome outlook: “We were issued brooms for guard duty in some cases at Northney, sometimes a rifle with no ammunition, and they were expecting a German invasion! Rounds were made every night outside by officers to see if we were alert and we would holler like Hell, “Who goes there? Advance and be recognized.” When you hollered loud enough you woke everyone in camp, so sentry duty was not so lonesome for a few minutes.” (Pg. 11, “Dad, Well Done)
Perhaps Dad was as worried as Lloyd, but he certainly found a practical way to overcome it.
During the day at Northney the Canadians gained early experience driving landing crafts in varying tides and currents, with three dozen soldiers aboard Assault Landing Crafts (ALCs) and heavy machinery and materials of war (e.g., Bofor guns, lorries and tank mesh) on Landing Crafts Mechanized (LCMs).
At night some used navy mattresses as bed covers “in a vain attempt to keep warm” while listening to heavy bombing raids - “courtesy of the Luftwaffe” - a few miles west at Portsmouth and Southampton.
“What an unforgettable sight it was with ack-ack fire arcing upwards and bombs dropping,” says one veteran.
Soon they were on another train to another camp, this time near Inveraray, Scotland “where the real work began.”
Please link to Editor's Column: As Published in Norwich Gazette (3).
Lloyd says: “Some nights I stood guard duty at the end of a long pier as lookout for German raiding parties. In the lonely darkness this inexperienced 18-year-old discovered the power of the imagination! It seemed the end of the watch would never come.... I was gaining a sense of the terrible nature of modern warfare as I realized in my imaginings how easily they could be turned into brutal and bloody reality.” (Pg. 9, My Navy Chronicles)
My father, three years older than Lloyd, had a less worrisome outlook: “We were issued brooms for guard duty in some cases at Northney, sometimes a rifle with no ammunition, and they were expecting a German invasion! Rounds were made every night outside by officers to see if we were alert and we would holler like Hell, “Who goes there? Advance and be recognized.” When you hollered loud enough you woke everyone in camp, so sentry duty was not so lonesome for a few minutes.” (Pg. 11, “Dad, Well Done)
Perhaps Dad was as worried as Lloyd, but he certainly found a practical way to overcome it.
Eight young Canadians in Combined Operations at HMS Northney, Feb. 1942
L - R: Al Addlington, London; Joe Spencer, Toronto; Chuck Rose, Chippawa;
Doug Harrison, Norwich; Art Bradfield, Simcoe; Don Linder,
Kitchener; Joe Watson, Simcoe; Jake Jacobs (city unknown).
Photo used with permission. Collection - Joe Spencer.
During the day at Northney the Canadians gained early experience driving landing crafts in varying tides and currents, with three dozen soldiers aboard Assault Landing Crafts (ALCs) and heavy machinery and materials of war (e.g., Bofor guns, lorries and tank mesh) on Landing Crafts Mechanized (LCMs).
At night some used navy mattresses as bed covers “in a vain attempt to keep warm” while listening to heavy bombing raids - “courtesy of the Luftwaffe” - a few miles west at Portsmouth and Southampton.
“What an unforgettable sight it was with ack-ack fire arcing upwards and bombs dropping,” says one veteran.
Soon they were on another train to another camp, this time near Inveraray, Scotland “where the real work began.”
Please link to Editor's Column: As Published in Norwich Gazette (3).
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